White Crown
by Peri Briar
Summary: When a lovely Countess meets a handsome Prince it should be sweetly simple and happily ever after. But it never is, is it?


i'm not quite old enough to own fairy tales... this one is a sort of convoluted cinderella

enjoy!

* * *

Aviera slipped the mended pillow case into the basket and looked out the window. For a moment she was torn between staying in and getting all the mending done for tomorrow and having more time then or just going out now. But she was only torn for a moment and slipping off her heavy over dress she slipped down the stairs of her tower room and out into the garden. With a quick glance up at the windows of the house, she ran down the hill through the carefully cultivated woods to the river.

Grabbing an apple on her way down, she picked her way across the shallow part of the river to the rock in the middle, just over hanging the waterfall. Munching on her apple happily she gazed down the river. Only a slight disturbance in the sound of the water fall behind her could have warned her of the danger. As it was she only turned around a few seconds before the massive log came hurtling down the river. Aviera turned in desperation to escape but there was nothing she could do. The log knocked into her hard, sending her flying over the edge of the second waterfall, the log following.

* * *

Jaymes absentmindedly plucked a blade of grass, watching a huge log slip by in the river current. It would catch across the drain later and someone would pull it out, maybe cut it up for firewood for his palace. He tossed the grass stem into the river as well and moodily regarded its intricate swirls as it too was caught up in the current. Scuffing his foot through the cropped grass, he brooded on his latest conquest.

Lady Pamela was the lady in waiting of Lady Willoween, or Princess Willoween at the present. Her father currently held the upper hand in the constant tribal battle that embroiled Inglaterra. Seeking to secure his position as temporary king he had sent his daughter to the Galian court in hopes she might win the favour of the Prince. It had taken him three days to get her into bed and three minutes for him to realize that that was exactly what she wanted. He had made sure Gayla had slipped the appropriate herbs into her next meal.

But he didn't mind that so much, Willoween had been pretty, sweet and dull. Pamela was much more interesting, she knew how to flirt and tease, and her brunette hair, which had always been his favourite shade, had occupied his thoughts more than he cared to admit. But now, a week into the relationship, she was beginning to grate.

It was not that he particularly minded her routine appearance in his chamber each night but there was some quintessential element missing. That and she, like Willoween, was beginning to bore him. There was always something missing. He had been with enough women that he knew it wasn't any particular one. They could be delightful, exciting, soft, quiet, whatever, but there was always _something _that wasn't there.

He ran his hands through his hair and looked out across the river again. And stared. There was girl in the water. Floating down the river, her white dress gathering and drifting around her like some sort of cloud. For a moment he simply gaped, then he stripped down to just his breeches and dove in.

The current was stronger than he had suspected and he had to fight it a little to reach her. Grabbing her around the waist he struck out for the bank. It wasn't easy, her dress made it hard to move quickly and with only one arm he didn't have much push to stop them being carried downstream, but they finally made it.

For a moment or two Jaymes lay half on top of the girl gasping on the bank. When he had gotten his breath back he pushed him self up and looked down at her. She the most beautiful girl he had ever seen in his life.

But she wasn't breathing.

He vaguely remembered one of the servants nearly drowning when he was younger and another one breathing into his mouth, pretty much kissing him to save his life. Well, Jaymes knew he was fairly good at kissing, so he gave it a try. The girl stirred under him and he pulled back.

Her eyelids fluttered, the long dark lashes brushing her cheeks. Jaymes held his breath. They opened. He found himself staring into twin pools of blue. She was mesmerising, unlike any of the others. He let his breath out slowly and then said,

"Are you alright?"

"I'm so cold, what happened?"

"You were floating down the river. Here," Jaymes stood up, gently lifting her with him. She was very light despite the waterlogged dress. He grabbed his cloak and draped it around her thin shoulders, "Take this."

She murmured her thanks and snuggled into it, taking full advantage of its warmth. She attempted to take a step away from him but swayed dangerously and Jaymes quickly caught her before she could topple over.

"Careful there, you're not quite ready to walk or even stand on your own yet. Take it slowly."

"But I have to get back, they'll miss me and…" she trailed off and her eyes half closed.

"Don't close your eyes, you can't fall asleep. You got hit on the head; if you fall asleep you might not wake up. Where do you need to go, I'll take you."

"Upriver 'til the bridge."

"Up we go then."

Jaymes lifted the girl easily and set off up the river. Every now and then he'd shake her gently to keep her awake. The walk didn't take too long, maybe fifteen minutes at most, before they reached the bridge over a pair of waterfalls.

"Here."

Jaymes set her down and looked around.

"Here?"

She nodded and took several shaky steps toward the bridge. Jaymes stayed a few steps behind her, his arms half out in case she fell. She turned,

"I'll be alright now, thank you." And with a hand on the rail of the bridge, walked across as quickly as she could manage.

Jaymes was left watching after her on the far bank.

"Wait! Will you tell me your name?"

The girl glanced back,

"Aviera."

* * *

"…which means that Lady Willoween and her ladies have returned to Inglaterra. Though she never really was a prospect, the pressure on you to find a wife has increased with her departure. I have drawn up a list of possibilities and you will be expected to choose between them by the end of the week. That should provide ample time for marriage negotiations before the coronation…"

Queen Meredith had only ever been the wife of the King but she had been the perfect wife. Now that her husband was dead she was the perfect Queen Mother. She had organized everything until the coronation and didn't doubt that she'd organize everything after as well.

It wasn't that she had an y particular problem with arranging first her husband's and then her son's schedule to perfection, but there were times when she wished she could just relax for a moment, play with her grandchildren. All her sisters had little grand children to play with; rambunctious black haired babies that squealed and gurgled.

When she had finished addressing her son, she regarded him expectantly, waiting for the furious outburst. None came. What he did say surprised her more than he could imagine.

"I already know who I'm going to marry."

Meredith's breeding prevented her from letting her jaw fall open instead she merely blinked.

"Please enlighten me, Jaymes."

"Aviera." Jaymes practically whispered the name.

Meredith flared her nostrils trying to remember. The name rang a bell certainly, but which one. Then she had it.

"Aviera Aranrhod. You want to marry the Countess Aranrhod."

"Is there a problem with that?"

"Not at all. In fact, that is more than I could have ever hoped for. The Countess is more than eligible. I had thought she was beyond our means."

"Beyond our means, Mother? I am soon to become the King of Gales, how is a Countess, even one so lovely, beyond our means?"

"Her mother was the Princess of Normandie, her uncle is the King of the Franks, the Galian in her comes from her father, the Count Aranrhod. Have you learned nothing Jaymes? Do you not know who Count Brendan Aranrhod is? He may only be a count here in Gales, but he is the Duke of Ellan Vannin, the Sorcerer's Isle. I believed that his daughter would marry the King of Cornouilles or Eire."

"Why are they here at all if they have there own country?"

Meredith took a breath. She wondered what the instructors she had given her son had taught him. Clearly not much.

"They feel like it. With Brendan's brother, Duke Bran governing Ellan Vannin, they didn't need to worry about their kingdom."

"How'd they get land here though?"

Meredith's breeding was showing once again. There was no outward sign of the annoyance verging on anger racing though her.

"Because before the Emrys' ruled Gales the Aranrhods' did. When they conquered Ellan Vannin they handed the kingship of Gales to your many times great grandfather. All they kept were the counties of Gwynedd and Dyfed."

"I see."

Meredith waited for the next inane question.

"Why don't they come to court?"

Meredith blinked. Hard. Several times.

"They're dead. Aviera is the only Aranrhod left."

* * *

ok what do you think of the first bit?  
i'd really really really love to have some reviews!  
anything and everything, even flames are accepted... i mean if you really hate this story _that much_ you might as well tell me why

so please review and i'll try to get the next chapter up quickly!


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